this article appeared today in our papers, & was originally published in the New York Times

‘Dystopia come to life’: How George Orwell wrote the book on Trump’s America The dire predictions of Orwell’s classic novel, 1984, are becoming a disturbing reality 75 years later
As US Vice President J. D. Vance dressed down European officials over two days in mid-February for criminalising far-right speech, his outrage built to the unkindest cut of all. “This is Orwellian,” he trumpeted, “and everyone in Europe and the US must reject this lunacy.”

A day later, George Orwell reappeared – this time wielded against US President Donald Trump after his truth-mangling suggestion that Ukraine was somehow responsible for Russia’s 2022 invasion. Even a fellow Republican, Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, couldn’t resist: “Putin started this war,” he posted on X, adding, “I don’t accept George Orwell’s doublethink.”

And as Trump unleashed a torrent of norm-puncturing executive orders, so many references to 1984 have flooded the political conversation that it feels as if nearly half the electorate joined the same book group. After the White House took facts on a loop-de-loop, claiming that officials who revealed details of strike plans in Yemen on a Signal chat had not disclosed classified information, hundreds of people posted the same Orwell quote on social media: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” T-shirts with the same line are available on Etsy for as low as $US16. So is one with a fake Orwell quip: “I literally wrote a book to warn you all about this.” (read on)